Two Sides to Every Coin
by Princess Alexandria
Summary: Dani Moonstar, the new teacher at Xaviers and former New Mutant, finds that the man she's been watching could be interested. Her dating draught is over, but can she deal with his secrets?
1. Chapter 1

Two Sides to Every Coin

By Princess Alexandria

AN: I ask for patience from my femslash readers, it will fit the challenge eventually, but I'm sort of playing with something a little new.

CHAPTER 1

"Let me get this right." Shan sounded a little irritated as Dani drove them into town and Dani started to doubt her own actions with the cold tone in Shan's voice. "You want me to go with you to the coffee shop because the woman that works there hit on you."

"It also has good coffee, but I was hoping that when you talked with her you could mention I was straight." Dani glanced over at Shan and gave a guilty little smile, now seeing how stupid this was. "She seems nice and she's pretty, maybe you might like her."

"And maybe you could have just told her yourself." Shan sighed. "This is sad Dani, really sad, when a woman hitting on you has you running for backup."

"I'm sorry. We could just go get breakfast and head back." Dani offered and stopped the car at the crosswalk while a jogger got the right of way. He had on a tight white tshirt that showed off every well defined muscle and shorts that let his strong legs move freely. Dani watched him slowly jog across the street, noticing how his shoulder length black hair moved with him, swaying. He looked good.

"Dani, Dani, earth to Dani." Shan sounded amused and Dani turned to look at her. "He's across now, you can go."

"Where to?" Dani blushed at having been caught staring. She'd seen him jogging this street before; he was like clockwork, always jogging by the town around 8 am. His route covered a bit of ground, because she'd seen him jogging closer to the mansion as well, a little after 7 sometimes.

"We might as well have coffee." Shan sighed. "But after this if any other woman hits on you, you just tell her yourself that you aren't gay."

"I didn't want to be rude."

Shan let out an aggravated sigh. "What do you do when a man you aren't interested in hits on you?"

"Like I was saying, I didn't want to be rude." Dani thought of the few men that had hit on her in the past, men with little courtesy and even less appeal. She didn't really know how to tell someone nice that she wasn't interested, and lying about a fictitious boyfriend wouldn't work here, where so many of her students went. That lie wouldn't last long. "I really didn't know what to do. This has never happened to me."

"I guess I should have hit on you in school." Shan muttered and Dani's eyes widened as she turned to stare at her friend, but Shan was just grinning at her. "Then you'd know what to do now. I blame myself really, for neglecting your education."

Walking into the coffee shop was a little nerve racking and Dani wondered again why she was bothering with this. She could have just stayed away, or been a little braver and explained that she didn't date women herself, but she turned it into a big thing and now felt foolish.

"Hey pretty lady. Want another Mocha?" Luna flirted and Dani blushed, but forced herself to step up in line with Shan behind her.

"Yes, thanks." Dani added and moved to open her purse while Luna started it, but turned to stare at a slightly grinning Shan, pleading with her eyes for Shan to do something.

"I saw David here last night with a few friends." Luna started to talk. "You give out that monster paper they were complaining about?"

"No, I think it was Scott that did that one." Dani glanced out the window and noticed that jogging man looking through his pockets in front of the place, and pulling out some money with a smile. Her eyes stayed glued to his soft smile, thinking it mad him look even better.

"Just ask him out why don't you?" Shan said a little too loudly and Dani blushed, looking back at her friend. She would have shushed Shan, but Shan's eyes widened in silent message and turned toward the coffee lady.

"I don't know anything about him."

"Except you like the way he looks." Shan smirked and shook her head.

"That's Andrew." Luna added and Dani turned to see the Mocha she'd ordered on the counter. "He comes in here every day at this time, orders a drink, reads the paper and disappears." Dani handed over her money and heard the bell on the door letting her know that Andrew was in the building. Luna's voice was quieter. "I think he's in some sort of business field. It's the Wall Street Journal he reads." Luna handed Dani her change and turned her attention to Shan.

Dani turned to take a sip of her drink and look at the man. He had sweat marks on his shirt and stood patiently waiting for his turn to order. His skin was a little shiny from his workout. His long black hair hung in his eyes and clung to his damp skin, and his eyes were an amazing blue. A shove from Shan drew Dani's eyes to her smirking friend just before Shan turned to him. "Hi." Shan smiled and Andrew smiled back, looking a little shy. It took Dani a moment to take the opening.

"I see you jogging around a lot." Dani shoved her wallet into her coat pocket and looked up at him. He was about Sam's height, and Dani knew her ex-teammate was six foot.

"Oh," He glanced at Luna and Dani noticed Luna was working on Shan's drink a little more slowly than normal. That woman was really nice to do this for her and for a moment Dani felt guilty again for bringing help to let Luna know she was straight. "Yeah, I'm the crazy one you see out there even if it's raining." His voice was nice, Dani smiled a little, not too deep but still deep enough. He turned to Luna. "Latte please." That's when Dani noticed that Shan's drink was just about done.

"Running," Shan shook her head as she dug out money for the drink she'd ordered, and Dani remembered she was going to pay for that too late. She'd just make it up to Shan later, "I prefer a nice gym, less rain and cars."

"It's an acquired taste." He seemed to relax. "But when my car broke down in college I decided to acquire and I've been doing it ever since."

"You mean you gave up on cars?" Dani asked.

"No, I'm not going to jog with my groceries." He grinned at her. His eyes seemed flirtatious, but not in that overdone way Remy had. "I have a car, one that works. I just don't use it all the time. I don't live that far away from work."

"So what do you do?" Shan asked and Dani felt like she had a blush, knowing that Shan was interrogating him to see if he was good enough for Dani even if he didn't.

Andrew gave Shan a look that was a little too cautious. "Ah, I find my life goes much better if I never think about my lowly position."

"He won't tell you, it takes the mystery out of him." Luna teased.

"Women want more than I can deliver. It's better to let them think up jobs than admit to my own." He teased back, taking his drink. "Nice meeting you ladies." And he walked away to sit at a table towards the back. Dani slowly shared a look with Shan and Shan smiled, tilting her head toward the back and Andrew.

"Seems nice, a little dodgy about the work thing." Shan spoke quietly when he was far enough away to not hear them. Dani glanced back at him opening his paper and the small smile he sent her way when he looked her way. It was different than other men, he seemed interested, his smile was welcoming, but he wasn't trying. Was he married? "In shape, cute if you go for that whole male thing." Shan continued her evaluation and Dani turned back to her, but noticed that Andrew was still looking, trying to not be obvious, but still looking.

"Oh yeah, if I went for that whole male thing I'd be interested." Luna added quietly and Dani looked over at the woman glancing Andrew's way. "He's so polite, I actually saw him help an old lady with her groceries one day. He noticed her having trouble putting them in the trunk across the street and just walked right up and offered." Her voice dropped quieter. "He's also helped me out a time or two when the male customer's think I want them to hit on me. He's been my pretend boyfriend twice to get rid of truckers. Telling men like that you're gay and not interested isn't always a good idea."

"No kidding." Shan added and Dani was suddenly aware that lesbian's dealt with the same problems she did when it came to men. It made her feel bad about her reason for being there, because unlike Luna, she could have just said she was straight and not worried about being beat up for it.

"No wedding ring." Shan muttered, looking his way. Dani fought the urge to turn around and look at him, because it would make it obvious who they were talking about.

"I don't think he has a girlfriend, or boyfriend for that matter, but he doesn't talk about himself much." Luna told them when Shan glanced at Luna with the unasked question. Dani's eyes widened a little at the mention of boyfriend. She'd never even considered that.

"Dani, why don't you go sit by him and I'll stand here and find out what Luna knows." Shan turned to face her fully and then her eyes widened and her head tilted. It felt like Shan wanted to be alone with Luna and Dani's eyes widened a little as she stared back. After a moment of that stare Dani sighed and decided to give it a shot. Still this wasn't what she'd planned for the day.

Dani took her mocha and sat down at the table next to his, glancing at the paper he had out and was reading. Emma was actually on the page, being outed as a mutant just like the school had been. It hadn't taken the press long to make the connections to where she was living now. Maybe it would be a good idea to stay away from the mansion this morning, at least until Emma calmed down, because she was probably just seeing this now as well. "Did you want to read over my shoulder or should I read to you?" A teasing male voice spoke and Dani looked up from the paper to see him smiling at her.

"Well," Dani took the opening. "What's this about Frost Industries?" Rarely could she feel out a potential boyfriend about mutants so smoothly. Dani would have to thank Emma for being outed after the blonde calmed down, it would irritate her.

"Frost Industries is one of the most successful woman run businesses today." Andrew set the paper down on the table so that Dani could read the headlines and more if she wanted. "Their CEO built it, cultivated it, and during that stock market crash took just as big a hit as everyone else, but she pulled it out. Now," His lecture voice was not really letting his emotions show, but he shook his head and it returned to normal as he stopped pretending to teach, "she's been exposed as a mutant and people are making allegations that it's unfair and that she must have done things unfairly to be so successful." His voice when he said unfair sounded like he thought people were whining. "I'll admit she's been involved in some ruthless action, I've read about some takeovers that made me cringe, but this could ruin her if she isn't careful."

Maybe Dani would avoid Emma all day, she thought, knowing how snappy and short tempered the blonde would be. "You follow her career?" It seemed strange. He grimaced a little and picked up his Latte.

"I follow the work of successful women in business. It's inspiring. It's still mostly a man's field but there are some women," he motioned to the paper, "that really make a name for themselves. And you know that they had to work for it because it is a man's world right now and they are cracking the glass ceiling." Dani couldn't help but think he was great for thinking of that, a male feminist in a way. It earned him points, that and the fact that he seemed unconcerned with the mutant thing.

"Are you in business?" Dani asked and leaned forward, her attention fully on him. He blushed and smiled a little nervously as he looked away for a moment.

"There's a pool going on around here on what I do for a living and when I'll tell anyone. Luna thinks I don't know about it." He grinned a little conspiratorially. "Her ex-girlfriend told me about it before they broke up, and asked me straight out what I did and if it was banking so she'd win the pool." Dani glanced toward Luna and noticed that Shan and Luna were talking and paying them no attention anymore. The way Shan leaned on the counter said it all, Shan was interested. "I'm holding out on answering that one. What I do isn't interesting, but this constant game of guessing is fun and I don't want to end it just yet."

"Okay." She smiled her understanding.

"So what about you?" He sat up a little and turned a little towards her in his chair. "I'd guess," He pretended to study her and Dani blushed a little at the smirk on his lips. "accountant?" Dani grinned. "No, okay lemme try again." His smile was cute and boyish. He studied her body for just a moment. "athlete?" Dani just shook her head, but he was getting closer. "Personal trainer?" She chuckled and he turned to face her a bit more. "Well, then you must be a teacher."

"How did you do that?" Dani knew there were other choices he could have made.

"I got it didn't I?" He wiggled his eyebrows and took a deep drink of his latte. "Actually it wasn't hard. Your car is the only one out there and it has a Xavier's Institute folder in the back seat. Either you or your friend had to work there." He laughed and Dani had to join him.

"So you knew."

"That you're most likely a mutant and a teacher?" His voice calmed and was softer. "Yeah, I knew."

"You often go around looking in cars?" Dani spoke, her voice more flirtatious. He looked like a cute little boy caught doing something naughty and not at all ashamed.

They talked for twenty minutes, before he looked at his watch and seemed to panic. "I've got to go." He grimaced and then folded up the paper he didn't get to finish. "It was really nice meeting you," He paused.

"Dani, my name's Dani." Dani held out a hand to shake, just out of habit really, but he took it and did shake her hand with a smile.

"I'm," He looked down for just a moment, "Andrew. I better go or I'll be late for that job I won't tell you about."

"Okay," She continued to smile as he rushed off, clearly very late.

Shan came and sat down across from her. "So?"

"He has potential." Dani turned her smile to her friend.

"Any chance you found out what his job was?" Shan's smile was a little wicked and Dani laughed.

"What did you bet on?"

"House painter." Shan tilted her head just a little. "How did you know?"

"He knows about the bets, that's why he won't tell anyone. He's letting the pot grow."

CHAPTER 2

Andrew cooled down and stretched in the alley next to the Grind Stone. His heart rate calmed from the jog and the breeze was cool on his damp skin. Soon he'd have to pull out the sweatpants, because Fall felt like it was finally on it's way. The nice weather had lasted a bit longer than normal this summer.

As he walked toward the front door he noticed a familiar car and smiled. Dani, she'd been nice and it had been nice to just sit and chat with someone. It wasn't something he did often enough.

It didn't hurt that she had such pretty eyes, he thought. She wasn't really an overly beautiful woman, but there was just something about her that made him look at her.

Clearly she was a Native American, and he knew nothing about Native Americans, but the way she dressed and did her hair made it pretty clear it was a big part of who she was. Andrew didn't even know what his heritage was. He knew he was part Italian, it was in his last name after all, but what else he couldn't tell. All he knew was that she was fun to talk to and she liked talking to him.

When he stepped into the coffee shop he could see it was a little busier than he liked, but he stood in line while glancing around. Dani was reading and working on her mocha. He smiled at the way she seemed to be concentrating. "So what is it for you today?" Luna asked when the man in front of him left with his drink.

"Extra Tall Latte." He said and leaned against the post near the register.

"Sure thing Mr. Prosecutor." Luna said it like a question and Andrew just grinned and shook his head. "Sure this much coffee won't make you shaky Dr. Andrew?" He chuckled.

"The sight of blood makes me sick and I can't argue my way out of anything."

"You could just tell me what you do for a living." Luna said as she worked on his drink.

"What's the fun in that?" Andrew felt a little uneasy with the seriousness in her tone, hidden but there. He couldn't really tell people anything. "So, Dani's back." He turned to look at the teacher.

"Yep. Let me just tell you I was a bit disappointed that she doesn't bat for my team." Luna looked up with a grin. "But her friend is kinda cute don't you think?"

"So you were chatting her up the other day weren't you?" Andrew teased.

"And you? I've never seen you talk with anyone when you're here but me." Luna glanced over at Dani meaningfully. "She bats for your team." Andrew grimaced. Luna's eyes widened a little, "Unless you happen to prefer men."

"So now it's not just where do I work huh?" His voice was a little deeper, but he took a deep breath and pushed his irritation away. "How about we just say I'm a lesbian and leave it at that?" He grinned at her and batted his eyelashes. "So, since I'm a lesbian…"

"It'll take a bit more than saying that to make you dateable." Luna shook her head and put his latte on the counter.

"I have a dress at home I could wear." He wiggled his eyebrows and Luna just laughed.

"I'd pay money to see that." She shook her head and took his money for the latte. "And do you have a lot of dresses Andrew?"

"Just three." He grinned at her and walked away, leaving her wondering if he was joking.

Dani looked up and her eyes caught him instantly. He moved to sit at the table next to her, sitting so he could face her. "Hi, how's teaching?"

"Been better." She sighed. "I sometimes think teenagers are a different species altogether."

"Yep." He put his paper down, but didn't open it. "I can see that. Their diet alone, and then there is their strange mating rituals and the way the herd searches for malls like antelopes search for water. Yep, definitely a different species." She grinned and looked a little less tired.

They talked for twenty minutes, before Andrew had to leave, taking his unread paper with him.

…………………

CHAPTER 3

"and she asked me to go with her to the concert." Shan smiled as she spoke and Dani could see the woman was happy to be going on a date. There was no mention as to how long it had been.

"That's nice." Dani smiled and was about to tease when the steering wheel jerked suddenly. It took a fraction of a second to know that a tire just blew and her smile faded instantly as she pulled off to the side of the road. "Great, this is just great." Dani muttered as she found some level ground to put the car.

"Do you have a spare?" Shan asked and Dani sighed.

"Yes, I just don't know if I have anything else." She told her friend as she opened the door. She'd have to check the trunk, but she was pretty sure that she didn't have a jack, or one that worked at least. Last time this had happened she'd borrowed one from someone else and told herself she needed to get a new one, but she'd run into a mission after that and well, it slipped her mind. They'd need to hope someone came along, or they'd have to call the mansion.

In a few minutes she had the spare out and was digging around for the broken jack, hoping that if she moved fast enough she could beat the way that jack tended to pump up and then let down right away.

After the third attempt to keep the car up Dani was ready to give up. Shan's voice interrupted her as Dani worked to tug the jack free of the car. "Prince Charming is on the way."

"What?" Dani looked up at Shan.

"Andrew." Shan nodded in a way that said turn around he's behind her and Dani turned to see Andrew jogging up to them. She looked down at her dirty hands and could see some of her hair was in her eyes. Her jeans were dirty and she really hated that he'd see her this way.

"Problem ladies?" He sounded a little winded, and Dani stood up as he finished getting closer. He looked down at the spare and the jack. "Can I help?"

"I could do it if the jack worked." Dani told him and he looked down at the jack in question. He was quiet and glanced around making Dani think something was up.

"If I lift it you could change it?" He spoke quietly, his eyes stopped her from protesting that he couldn't just lift a car.

"Can you lift a car?" Shan asked before Dani could.

"I can't pick it up and toss it, but I can do enough for this." He gave Dani a shy smile and spoke softly. "Not every mutant lives in that school."

"You're a mutant." Dani smiled a little as she caught on to the less than subtle hint. It wasn't even a hint. "superstrength?"

"Sometimes, among other things." He muttered and moved to get closer to the car. "I lift, you change. Tell me when I can let it down, and please don't let anyone see me do this." He looked serious and a little nervous. Dani turned to look at Shan, letting her know that she'd be responsible for keeping people looking away if they drove past. Shan's power would make that easy for her. He had reason to be nervous, Dani knew that. The climate for mutants in the state was on a downward trend.

"Ready when you are." Dani said and watched him move to lay on the ground, watched how his body wiggled as he scooted into position partially under the car. His sweatpants covered his muscular legs, and Dani couldn't help but think it was a shame. She let her eyes caress him, until Shan gave a fake cough and Dani looked up into her friends amused eyes, and then realized that the car had moved up.

"Oh," Dani moved to kneel on the ground and quickly worked to loosen lug nuts to change the tire. "I thought you'd be in town now."

"It's my day off. I just jog in, get my latte and go home." Andrew didn't sound like he was having trouble holding the car up. "It is the weekend."

"So you have a job that gets the weekend off." Dani spoke, a little bit of teasing in her tone, as she worked on another lug nut.

"Don't tell me you bet on that too." Andrew's voice was full of humor and Dani knew she wouldn't be getting an answer to her question. "And you have an oil leak, did you know that?"

"No, actually I didn't." Dani pulled the last lug nut off and moved to grip the tire, pulling it away from the car. "Is it bad?"

"Not yet, but I'm gonna need to scrub my fingernails good to get them clean again." Andrew's answer was teasing and slightly feminine. It made Dani pause for a moment and then she just grinned at a man worrying about that.

"I'm sorry my car isn't housebroken." She pulled the tire off and set it to the side, then leaned down to look at him, seeing how he was basically bench pressing her car, holding it up with strong arms that didn't seem to strain at all. He grinned a little at her.

She moved to grab the spare and moved it into place. The spare was light in comparison and she'd need to get a new tire soon, it was just enough tire to get her home. "Well, if we can't talk about what you do for work, what do you do for fun?" Dani asked and did her best to forget that Shan was standing nearby. It was only fair that Shan try to blend into the road right now, Dani had sat back long enough for Shan to get a date today.

"I like going up to the Catskills and hiking. Getting close to nature." Andrew answered. "I also like movies and an occasional play." Dani paid a lot of attention to him as she also worked to secure the lug nuts to the car again. "What about you?"

"I'm Cheyenne, getting close to nature is in my blood." Dani smiled as she worked. "The Catskills are pretty nice, but I miss Colorado sometimes." She had to pick up another lug nut and carefully started it by hand, twisting it into place. "I like movies and an occasional play too." She worked on the tire and went quiet for a moment. He should have asked at that pause, but he didn't.

"I," Andrew let that one word out and went quiet again. Dani looked up at Shan and noticed her friend waving for her to continue.

"Would you like to go out to a movie tonight?" Dani asked, stopping her work to look under the car. He still looked like it wasn't an effort to hold the car. "I can pay you back for helping us, popcorn's on me?"

"No, no," Andrew looked a little red and he nibbled on his lip. "You don't have to pay me back, but if you want," He looked so shy and nervous and Dani could almost see him doubting himself, "well, I could use a movie." He looked at her. "Dinner too maybe." Why he didn't know he was absolutely gorgeous Dani had no idea, but he was too shy about this. Still, she liked that about him, he wasn't overly aware of how absolutely gorgeous he was.

"Sounds great." Dani moved to finish working and finally was able to tell him to put the car down. His hands were a bit dirty when he came out from under the car, so he didn't let her help him up.

CHAPTER 4

Andrew stood in front of the sink in his condo scrubbing at the black dirt under his nails with a nail brush and sighed. A date, it had been a while and maybe, just maybe this time nothing would get in the way. It would be nice if that happened just once. He felt a little hopeful that Dani was more open minded.

The phone rang and he sighed as he looked at it and started to dry his hands.

Ginny moved to grab the phone quickly on the fourth ring, "Hello."

"Hey boss," A familiar voice spoke and Ginny knew it was probably a good thing that she'd answered even though she'd been busy. "I can't find something that was supposed to be in that last shipment."

"What is it?" Ginny moved to sit at the kitchen counter and tilted her head to hold the phone as she grabbed some paperwork nearby while she listened. She had to move the dirty towel out of her way. She picked it up and tossed it into the sink.

……………………….

CHAPTER 5

Dani checked her appearance in the hall mirror again and checked the time. Andrew wasn't late yet. "Date?" Emma's cool voice came from the doorway and Dani's back tensed, before she turned to look at the blonde.

"Yes." Dani stood a little taller and studied Emma.

"Well, hopefully he's housebroken, but if that isn't the case you could meet him outside." Emma spoke and Dani's eyes narrowed at the insult. She opened her mouth to reply, but the knock on the front door stopped her.

Dani gave Emma one more glare and moved to open the door. Andrew's smile helped to relax her, and he looked really good in black slacks and a blue button up shirt, not formal but much closer than what she'd always seen him in before, his workout clothes. "Hey." Dani smiled at him. "You found me." He'd said he knew the way to the school.

"Yeah, it was getting whoever controls the gate to let me in that was the hard part." Andrew glanced back toward his car, parked and waiting for them. "I didn't realize you all had so much security around this place."

"Oh Danielle, do introduce your date." Emma's voice drew Andrew's eyes back into the mansion and Dani did her best to not roll her eyes. Andrew might actually want to meet Emma, crazy as that sounded.

At that moment Dani realized that she didn't know Andrew's last name yet. She just moved to the side to let him take a step inside. "Andrew, this is Emma." Andrew smiled at the blonde and nodded just a little hello, and it made Dani want to get him away from here sooner when Emma smiled back, looking like she was amused with something. "Emma, this is Andrew."

"It's nice to meet you." Andrew held out a hand and Emma took it. Dani watched every move. "I read about your interview. Good job making them look like idiots." Dani didn't even know what interview Andrew was talking about, it must have been a response to the claims against Emma.

"It was hardly a challenge." Emma smirked at Andrew and Dani noticed the blonde glancing her way after she'd done it. "From what I've overheard you are quite the mystery man."

Andrew blushed. "Not really."

"But there is so much that Danielle doesn't know about you." Dani glared at Emma, warning her with her eyes to back off. "Well, you two have fun." Emma's smile was wicked and worrisome. Dani took Andrew's hand and led him outside before Emma did something.

Andrew looked a little shaken. "That ruthlessness in business thing you noticed about her." Dani started as she noticed an unfamiliar car in the driveway that must be Andrew's. "It's pretty much a blanket ruthlessness. She's never really all that nice."

"Oh." He took a moment to shake his head and Dani's eyes narrowed as she realized that Emma had probably been going through his mind as they stood there. Her hands clenched at the invasion of privacy, and she promised herself that after she got back from this date she'd hunt that blonde down. "Well, shall we get going?" His smile looked a little forced.

Andrew held the door opened for her and Dani moved closer to him than necessary to get into the car, noticing how his eyes seemed to caress her. "And you look very nice in that dress." He spoke softly.

"Thank you." Dani smiled and finished sitting down. He closed the car door gently and moved around the car to get in. "You look very nice too." Dani glanced at him and noticed the light blush. It didn't escape her notice that those clothes looked rather new.

"Thanks." He started the car.

"What is your last name?" Dani had to ask. It made her a little uncomfortable that she hadn't known.

"Mancinelli." Andrew answered, then he looked a little startled and glanced at Dani. "What about you?"

"Moonstar." Dani noticed the normal reaction to her last name, a second of disbelief. "It's a Native American thing."

"Mine's apparently an Italian thing, but other than that I can't tell you more. My family's considered themselves American so long anything else is lost."

"Yeah." Dani smirked at him and didn't point out that her people were the original Americans.

CHAPTER 6

It took a little while for Andrew to relax after meeting Emma, but eventually they were smiling and talking over the table at the restaurant. He still felt nervous and a bit depressed, but he pushed those feelings aside. Dani was a mutant too. Maybe this could go somewhere. It was his differences that led to almost all of his breakups in the past. A few had stuck around a while, but it never lasted. He was tired of that, tired of pretending to be acceptable in order to hold onto anyone for even a second date.

Maybe Dani was more open minded, he thought with a bit of hope, but Emma's words about his secrets worried him. "What is Emma's mutation anyway?" He asked in a lull during the conversation and could see Dani wasn't pleased.

"She's a telepath. She also can turn to diamond." Dani stopped the fork moving toward her mouth and Andrew did his best to not show how much that wasn't the answer he'd wanted to hear.

"And you?" He asked, hoping for a different answer from Dani.

"I can show people their nightmares or they're dreams." Dani's answer was too brief and Andrew knew he barely understood it. Still it wasn't telepathy. "What about you?"

He should have expected this to be turned on him. Andrew glanced around and could see they still had privacy. "Well, sometimes I'm strong and other times I'm fast." There was something else, but he didn't feel like he could share that just yet. It always got the worst reaction when people found out.

"Are you ever both?" Dani asked and took a bite of the nearly complete dinner.

"Once in a while." Andrew wanted off this topic. "So which movie did you want to see, the chick flick or the action movie?"

"You haven't even told me what movies are playing?"

Andrew grinned. "I don't know, but chances are there is a chick flick and an action movie."

"Let me guess, you want the action movie?"

"I'm good with either." Andrew told her and took another bite of dinner while he let Dani decide.

"I don't even know what's playing. How can I pick?"

"Or we could see whatever is in theater three." He smirked at her.

"You never like giving out any information do you?" Dani shook her head, but she still looked amused, so Andrew just smiled.

His smile faded before he answered. "People have a lot of preconceived ideas about things. I like to just give everything a chance before I decide I don't like it."

"That sounds like a good plan." Dani's smile was soft and Andrew hoped she really meant that.

CHAPTER 7

As they walked out of the theater they walked slowly. Dani was in no rush for this evening to be over. The movie was only okay, but they'd whispered to each other making the odd comments that had them both laughing at the wrong times in the theater and a few people glaring at them. It had been comfortable, like spending an evening at the movie with a friend, but the odd moment when they'd touched or the soft brush of his breath on her cheek as he whispered something amusing to her keep it from being just comfortable. Dani really thought she could like him, given time maybe even more than like him. Her heart felt full with the hope as they walked toward his car.

"This was fun." Dani said as she waited for Andrew to unlock his car.

"We should do it again." He offered and looked over at her. Dani smiled at him, glad that it seemed like this would lead to another date. "Or, well, I was planning a day hike next weekend. Was going to go to the Catskills and just hike for a few hours."

"That sounds like fun." Dani liked that he seemed to like nature, respect it. They had that in common.

"Yeah." He held the door opened and she got in. As they drove back to the mansion he started to grow quiet and Dani felt like maybe he was regretting asking her out. It made her feel a little sick as she wondered what he was thinking. He pulled into the driveway and Dani was able to get them past the gate. When he stopped he shut down the car and turned to her. He looked nervous. "There's something you should know." Andrew looked at her and with the lights from the mansion she was able to see him easily even at night. "I want to tell you that I'm bisexual. I don't have a boyfriend right now, but I've had them in the past." Dani stared at him in shock. "Even if I'm not with a man, it's still a part of who I am, just as much as my mutation. I really like you Dani, and I'd like to date you again. I'd like to take you with me hiking, but I don't want to start something if you aren't able to accept me."

He went quiet and Dani had no idea what to say. She knew gay people, gay men even, but she'd never dated a man that dated other men. Her mind seemed to freeze, so she just said what was running through it. "I don't know what to say."

His smile looked so sad. "Women never do. Look, if you can't handle it that's okay. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened to me, but I had fun tonight and you know where to find me if you want to plan for a trip next Saturday."

"Yeah." Dani felt like she was in a daze as she stepped out of the car. She walked around to the other side and made her decision before she moved away. She walked up to his window. He rolled it down. "I had a wonderful time Andrew. What time did you want to pick me up next Saturday?" His eyes seemed to brighten and she smiled. It was strange to her, but she wasn't willing to give up just yet. Andrew was a pretty nice guy and she hadn't had that much fun on a date in a long time. Dani leaned into the car and kissed him quickly goodnight, before turning to walk up the stairs.

"Eight." He called out and she turned to see him smiling at her. "I'll be here at eight in the morning."

CHAPTER 8

"Mancinelli you say." Emma interrupted Dani talking about her date with Shan and Dani turned to see the blonde standing in the library doorway. "Italian, interesting." Emma walked into the room, her hips swaying just a little too much, taunting and Dani didn't want to hear what she'd say. "Learn anything else about him? Perhaps something more interesting or different?"

Dani glared as she realized what Emma was suggesting. "Andrew is a very nice man." Just because he was bisexual Emma thought he was what? Gross? No, Dani was a little thrown by that but it didn't make Andrew any less of a nice man. "And I didn't appreciate you scanning my date."

"Oh, but you know so little about him Dani. I was just making sure he was safe." Emma leaned back, partly sitting on a study table. "He's not like other men, but he seems harmless enough." Emma's smirk drew Shan's glare as well. Dani had talked about the bisexuality right away before anything else. Just to make sure she wasn't getting in over her head. She'd needed to talk to someone and Shan would know more about it than Dani.

"Don't you have some innocent young minds to twist and warp?" Shan spoke coldly to the telepath.

"Yes, I suppose I do have work I could do." Emma moved to fully stand. "But you know that name, Mancinelli, I've heard it around here before." Emma pretended to have to think about it, but Dani knew it was an act. "I believe a few of the students were talking about her." Dani's eyebrows drew together at that, not liking the implications. "A beautiful woman if what they said was right. Runs the comic book shop in town, and a few of the students go every week, making sure it's when she works. I wonder if it's any relation?"

"What are you talking about Emma?" Dani's voice was lower in a threat.

"Just wondering Dani," Emma smiled at her. "I mean you do know so little about him." Emma strode out the door after leaving that pit of doubt in Dani's stomach.

"Don't let her get to you. It could be anything, a sister, a cousin." Shan offered quietly. "It doesn't have to be a wife."

"Yeah." Dani muttered, but Emma clearly got something from Andrew's mind and it wouldn't be the first time that Dani had picked the wrong man.

"No, Dani, don't just take her word for it." Shan spoke again, demanding but quiet. "He didn't seem like the type to do that."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 9

New comics came out on Wednesday. It was a new little fact that Dani had learned as she'd chatted with a few students. Really comics just came up in the conversation, she told herself, but she knew it was a lie. She'd pumped her students for information and that was how she ended up standing on the sidewalk outside of a store looking at a poster of Batman.

She gave up the lie of browsing the stores and stared for a moment at the opened sign, before taking a deep breath and pushing the door opened.

Dani glanced around the shop, taking in the tables of comics, the posters on the wall, and the small crowd of students she had seen around and other people looking at the goods. She also noticed the prominent placement of a computer on the far wall and the people near it.

A woman in jeans and a long sleeve tshirt was leaning over the seated computer user pointing at the screen. There was definitely something familiar about the woman and Dani stared at her trying to place where she'd seen her before.

"Ms. Moonstar?" A nearby voice drew Dani's eyes away from the woman and she turned to see one of Emma's students she'd noticed earlier smiling at her. "You read comics?"

"Ah," Dani felt put on the spot, "Not really. I just heard a lot of students come here and…" Dani shrugged, unwilling to explain her presence any more than that. "So this is where you spend all your money Cessily?"

"Oh, not all of it." The metallic girl glanced down at the small pile of comics in her hand and then up at Dani. "It's actually kinda school related in a way. I get ideas about my powers in these." Her voice was soft and Dani glanced at the comics with a skeptical look. "Ginny created a really cool database that helps us find characters with powers like ours. She has other searches in there too, but she actually helped me figure out what to buy. She's great." Cessily turned to smile at the woman at the computer Dani had been watching earlier. Dani turned to see the woman staring at her, before standing straighter and walking over.

"Hello." A deep sultry voice had Dani really worrying that this was the competition for Andrew, she liked that voice, and any man would. "Can I help you?" The women, Ginny, was easily as tall as Ororo when she came to stand beside Cessily and Dani, Dani had to look up at her.

"I heard you had a database?" Dani finally spoke, after searching her mind for something she could claim she needed here. The woman smiled and turned toward the computer.

"Oh yes, my pride and joy. I think Jon is done, I can show it to you." Ginny moved gracefully around the table of comics and Dani followed her, noticing the way the woman's black hair was perfectly tamed in a ponytail that swayed from side to side and just came to her shoulders. Ginny turned to look at her once she'd gotten to the computer and Dani moved to stand beside her rather than take the seat. "This is a community effort." Ginny sat in the seat and Dani stared at the screen, more interested in the woman than the program, even if Cessily claimed it had value for more than entertainment. "I can't read all the comics, but my customers update for me. I give a discount to those willing to do the research." Ginny sounded like she was in the middle of a speech she gave several times a day. "A search can be done based on a few things. Race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, powers and a really slippery category we call subtexty." Ginny grinned. "For those almost gay scenes that just don't get all the way." Ginny glanced at her and then started to click on the form. "Results can be a characters or even a minor character and comics they are in, or just a list of comic issues depending on the search."

A list of characters appeared and Dani leaned in a little to look when she noticed a name or two. "Native Americans?" Dani noticed more on the list than she'd expected.

"Yeah, the ones in red are minor characters, but there are a few main characters." Ginny seemed a little tense with how close Dani was standing so Dani moved back and looked down at her. What was familiar before she could see now, standing this close. This woman was probably Andrew's sister, she looked too much like him, and her eyes were the same blue. "You could play around with this if you want." Ginny stood up and her blue eyes stayed on Dani a bit too long. "If you need help just let me know."

"Sure."

Ginny didn't move to leave right away. It seemed a little like she wanted to say more, but she finally just walked away. Dani started to work with the computer, looking for comics that students she had might like. She looked up all of her students' powers to see if they had comic counterparts.

She was so absorbed in the database that she didn't realize when the crowd died down, but the woman's voice drew her eyes away long enough to notice as Ginny pulled up a chair and sat next to her. "I can give you a copy of this if you want." Ginny smiled. "But you have to promise to keep it to yourself. I put a lot of work and money into this and I don't want any other comic shops to get it."

"It's a pretty good database, complicated but still easy to use. I didn't even know there were this many comics out there."

Ginny seemed a little more comfortable around Dani now, as she spoke to her, "Yeah neither had I before I decided to open a store. The database brings in people and it sells comics. For every researcher I give a discount to I sell to more people and make more money. This started off as a hobby when I was just sitting here wishing I had customers and not sleeping at night because I was sure I was going to go bankrupt. Now I own two comic book stores and a small specialty bookstore."

"Bookstore mogul?" Dani teased.

Ginny studied Dani and Dani felt a little exposed by it. "Would you like some coffee? I'm so addicted I need another fix and I could use some company on the walk."

"Okay." Dani stood up. Maybe she could just ask if she was right about Andrew being Ginny's brother now. But then if he heard that Dani had actually checked on him he might think she was paranoid, and that wasn't the image she wanted him to have. Emma was a bitch, but Dani fell right into it, believing the worst. It would be better if Andrew never knew that Dani hunted down his sister.

"Good, let's go before the evening rush starts. Cameron can hold the fort for a little while." Ginny said and Dani noticed the woman held the door opened for her as they left.

Ginny seemed nice and explained to Dani the how and the why of the database in more depth. She talked about the students she saw on a regular basis. Ginny almost seemed nervous as she chattered away during the entire walk to Luna's coffee shop.

CHAPTER 10

Andrew grimaced as he limped another step toward the car. "I'm sorry." He told Dani again, feeling embarrassed at his uncharacteristic clumsiness, which ended their hiking trip after just two hours.

"It's okay." Dani smiled at him and Andrew had to admit the pain in his ankle was partially compensated by the fact that Dani insisted on letting Andrew lean on her on the way back to the car. She was strong for a woman, but he didn't lean on her any more than he had to. "At least we weren't too far away when it happened." Dani glanced down at Andrew's sore foot. "And it isn't broken."

"Oh yeah, that would have been worse." Andrew stopped next to his car and started to dig his keys out of his pocket. "Can you drive?"

"A man that lets a woman drive." Dani spoke, her voice teasing. "And your baby at that, you rarely take this thing out." Andrew blushed at the flirting in her voice and smiled a little, while unlocking the passenger side. He handed the keys over slowly, as if bestowing a great honor on Dani.

"Well, it is my right foot that hurts. I could drive with the other, and if you're a typical female driver I should. What do you think?" He pretended to flinch when Dani lightly hit him on the arm. "Can you keep your eye on the road or will we be slowing down so you can reapply makeup that I really don't see you need."

Dani's half smile looked slightly confused. "Did you just insult me or compliment me, I can't tell."

"Yes." Andrew grinned wickedly and stared into her brown eyes. They were nice.

"That isn't an answer." Dani moved just a little closer, since she was no longer supporting him, the car door did that, she was facing him. Her head tilted back a little to look up at him and Andrew leaned down slowly.

"Yes." He teased very quietly and finally got up the nerve to move the few more inches to kiss her lightly on the lips. Her soft lips kissed him back briefly, before he leaned back and stared into her eyes pensively. There was so much he needed to say to her, but he just hugged her and slowly got into the car.

CHAPTER 11

"He told me to return it later. I had to get home and he couldn't drive." Dani said as she got out of the borrowed car, because Shan was in the garage getting into a car of her own.

"I would have picked you up." Shan said while looking at the car.

"But then I wouldn't have an excuse to drop off at his house later." Dani closed the car door and put the keys in her pocket. "He twisted his ankle hiking and we had to cut our trip short." Dani sighed. She had been a bit disappointed in that.

"And did you play nurse?" Shan grinned wickedly and Dani blushed and tried not to smile. Andrew was all wrapped up and tucked in; she'd done it before she left his house. "You did didn't you?" Shan teased.

"Oh shut up." Dani started to walk toward the mansion with Shan at her side, teasing and asking for details that Dani didn't have. Or she didn't have them yet, but maybe soon. She imagined he was a good lover, but she couldn't say anything for sure.

The way he kissed though, a good lover had to kiss like that, Dani thought remembering how unlike some men she'd kissed in the past, he knew how.

CHAPTER 12

Ginny slowly made her way the couch and sat down with a sigh. The books were balanced finally and she was glad because she was almost ready to scream when she'd run it the third time and it didn't add up. Putting her feet up on the coffee table gently Ginny grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. Flipping channels quickly she kept moving until she found something mindless to watch.

When her stomach growled Ginny went through a mental inventory of her kitchen and grimaced, thinking she really should have gone shopping already. Her Saturday plans had shifted her schedule and the regular grocery shopping wasn't done. Well she still had peanut butter, and some bread. With a sigh Ginny got up and moved with a slight limp toward the kitchen.

Twisting the lid on the peanut butter did nothing. Ginny glared at it, but since she lived alone she knew she had only one person to blame. "Dammit." Ginny muttered and put the jar down on the counter before reaching down and grabbing her belt, unbuckling it she took a deep breath and started to change. The loose tshirt filled out with hard muscle, the loose pants filled out as well. A strong arm reached out to pick up the peanut butter, untwisting the top easily.

Andrew spread the peanut butter on the bread and then looked to see if he was lucky enough to still have some jam as well. "Shopping, I better make a list." He muttered when he didn't find enough to cover the other piece of bread, just enough to make it slightly red. This time he shifted back before twisting the top back on the peanut butter, so that his enhanced strength didn't make it impossible to open in his feminine form.

Ginny wiped her hands off before buckling her belt back up. At least she was wearing something that fit both forms. That reminded her that she might need to buy a nice outfit for her next date with Dani, to make up for tripping and ruining yesterday's.

Of course this assumed that she'd have another date with Dani. Ginny took a bit of her sandwich and leaned against the counter to take her weight off her ankle as she considered that. The fact that she wanted another date and didn't want to say anything for fear she wouldn't get it was why she needed to tell Dani now before things became too serious between them.

Eating the last bit of the sandwich she looked up to see her own car driving up. "Oh great." Ginny moved to the sink and washed off her hands as she debated about how to do this.

CHAPTER 13

Dani stared a moment in shock when she realized it wasn't Andrew that answered the door. She stared at Ginny and found herself wondering if she actually was a girlfriend for a moment. Ginny glanced out at the car and moved to the side, "Come on in." The woman smiled, but it felt forced.

"I'm here to see Andrew." Dani hesitated a moment more before stepping past Ginny into the house again.

"I kind of figured that one out." Ginny spoke as she closed the door. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Ah, sure." Dani watched as Ginny's jaw clenched as she walked and while she didn't know the woman well, she was a little concerned at how different and tense she was acting. There was a cloud of doom over her, and that hadn't been there at the comic store.

"I have to shop, but I have white wine, coke, water, and almost expired orange juice." Ginny called out from the kitchen.

When Ginny handed over the glass of water Dani just held it. "Is Andrew here?" It felt like she was pulling teeth trying to get any information. Ginny didn't even attempt to call Andrew out here, but she hadn't said he wasn't there. Dani felt a bit on edge, wondering if her visit to the comic books shop was about to come up.

"I'm the only person here." Ginny sighed and took a sip of her own glass. Ginny avoided the nearly expired orange juice as well. "I was hoping we could talk." Dani tried to hide her grimace as she heard that, sure that she'd have to explain herself now.

CHAPTER 14

Ginny sat down and tried to appear calm and in control, but she doubted it would work. "I have a problem." She told Dani and looked up to see Dani slowly sitting and looking too apprehensive for this early in the talk. No that should come as Dani realized what Ginny was about to say, not just yet. Ginny had done this talk enough to know how it normally went. Without any idea why Ginny just sighed, "I'm a mutant," and watched Dani seem to relax. "And I need to talk to you about it."

"Me?" Dani's expression was suddenly guarded. Again it was too early. Ginny's shoulders slumped as she wondered how she was screwing this up already.

"How do you tell someone you're dating that you're a mutant?" Ginny asked, wondering if maybe Dani could tell Ginny how to do this, how she'd prefer to hear this.

"Oh." Dani's guarded look faded and her eyes softened. Ginny watched as a look of understanding crossed Dani's face, knowing Dani didn't really understand, she just thought she did. "You're dating someone." Dani's voice sounded relieved for and Ginny's eyebrows drew together in confusion for a moment, before she dismissed that as unimportant right now.

"Yeah, and it's time for that talk, the one that ruins most of my relationships." Ginny's voice held a note of bitterness as she stared down at her own clasped hands in her lap. "I wish it wasn't such an issue all the time and I really hope that it isn't this time."

"Have you ever tried bringing it up in other ways as you meet people? When I started talking to Andrew I found a current news article to comment on just to feel him out about mutants." Dani spoke softly. "I've tried that before and was able to weed out a few jerks before putting any time into them." Ginny just closed her eyes, seeing how that could work in a way, but not this time. "Of course you're already dating, so maybe you could ask him,"

"her." Ginny muttered out the correction and Dani stopped talking for a moment. Ginny watched the small expression of surprise, but then Dani just started talking again.

"Okay, her, see how she responds to the latest research or political problems facing us. If she's a bigot she'll have a hard time hiding it and then you haven't risked too much."

"I really don't think she'd actually hurt me, not like that. She's a good woman, but I just don't know if she can handle what I am." Ginny took a deep breath and forced herself to move out from the safe position she'd found in this talk, almost feeling like she was moving out into a battle and crawling away from her fox hole. "I was born different, even before my mutation showed up. The doctor's pulled me out of my mother's womb, held me up, and said, 'I really don't know what it is. I need to check my books and make a few calls.'" Ginny's fake smile was a bit of a grimace really. "I wasn't out in the world five minutes before it started, I was an it." Ginny noticed Dani leaning just a little closer and took some comfort in that. "The doctor said he could surgically change me, make me a girl. Just a cut here and there and maybe I wouldn't be able to feel as much during sex when I got older, but I'd have a gender. My mom was a feminist, the kind that protested the war and marched for women's rights. She was pretty lost, but she knew one thing. I didn't deserve to have my sex mutilated to fit into what everyone else considered normal." Ginny's face was a bit red, but while this talk used to embarrass her, now it just made her angry that people would do things like that to children and still did. "Mom told him to just mark the box on the birth certificate that she'd had a baby girl, but that was the only thing they would do to make me a girl. My mom's a wonderful woman and she and my dad raised me as a girl for years, but a very rough and tumble girl. I was just as much a boy as a girl but the world believes there are only two genders. It's not true; there are more than two, but doctors snip here or there to keep that myth alive."

Ginny went quiet and watched Dani's expression as the woman tried to grasp this. It was so out of most people's realm of reality that it normally took time. "You're a hermaphrodite?" Dani's voice was doubtful as she took in Ginny's curves and Ginny did her best to not flinch at the popular and demeaning term.

"We call ourselves intersexuals, and there are a few out there. Most had that damned surgery and tell me how lucky I am that my mother didn't just believe the doctor's crap when he tried to talk her into it." Ginny sat up a little straighter. "When I became a teenager I didn't develop right away. It took a little too long and we thought I might not, but then I mutated and overnight I found I could be either gender. I can be a man or a woman, but I was raised as a girl and I spend most of my time like this." Ginny waved to her body briefly. "I went through a wild time where I took full advantage of all the world offered me as both genders, but that got old as I got older and I don't date much anymore and I just use my other form in public for jogging because my feminine form has super speed and I can't jog in it without exposing that."

Dani took a moment, but then her eyes widened and her skin paled a little. "What?"

"I was named Ginny, but when my power became apparent I added another name. One that celebrated my androgyny in a very understated way." Ginny's voice softened and she whispered the name. "Andrew. I needed you to know, because I really like you Dani and going any further without telling you would be wrong." Ginny's breath was a little shaky when she took it. "So my mutation," She could see so much shock and disbelief in Dani's face and it wasn't comforting, "my mutation is an issue isn't it? I really thought that with another mutant maybe…" Her words trailed off and Ginny stared down at her hands, her voice filled with regret. "I wasn't trying to trick you, telling everyone I date isn't a good idea. I only tell the people I hope will stick around."

"Andrew?" Dani's voice sounded a little high and Ginny reached down to unfasten her belt without standing so it wouldn't cut into her when she grew. She shifted and Andrew sat before Dani. "Oh my, what are you really?"

Andrew shook his head and ran his hand up through his hair, pulling the rubberband out. "There are more than two genders, I told you. I was raised female, but I'm both and neither. I really don't fit into the boxes society made." He stared into her eyes. "I'm just the person that likes spending time with you." She was sitting back a bit, leaning back, and that just screamed stay away to Andrew. He'd really hoped Dani would take this better. The woman was a mutant, and her friend was a lesbian, it had seemed hopeful, but Andrew's hopes crumbled with the way Dani sat as if she wanted more distance between them.

CHAPTER 15

Dani stared at him, taking in the gentle eyes that seemed a little feminine with the long lashes. She took in how little about his face changed between Ginny and Andrew, and he suddenly looked more feminine to her, but her eyes trailed down over his muscular upper body, covered in a tight tshirt and Dani's eyebrows drew together. She felt angry, but forced it back, because she'd been on the receiving end of the you should have told me you were a mutant talk one too many times herself, but still, this warranted talking about. Dani wasn't a lesbian and wouldn't have dated a woman.

The silence stretched on and Dani felt more and more put on the spot as Andrew stayed quiet. "I don't know what to say." She finally spoke, her voice soft and pained. Andrew had been great with her, and they'd had fun, and that one trip to the coffee shop with Ginny had been nice too, but this was too much to take in.

How many times did Andrew do or say things that made Dani think it was odd a man thought that and she just brushed it off or found it cute? How many clues did she just ignore?

How could she kiss a man and not know he was a woman? Or also a woman? Dani shook her head trying to grasp a gender outside of those two. Other mutations made more sense, being a shapeshifter made more sense than actually claiming to be both. Or was Andrew saying that he was really a woman? He said he was raised that way.

"I'm still Andrew." Andrew spoke quietly and Dani listened, but stared at her own hands as thoughts hit her quickly. "And I wasn't trying to trick you. I saw you were from the mutant school, and you hung out with lesbians. I thought maybe you'd be okay with this. That you were used to people not fitting into society's mold. When you came by the store I thought for a second that maybe you knew, and I wanted you to know. I like you Dani." Dani heard his sigh and looked up into his slightly reddened face and pained eyes. "But I can't lie about what I am. If you date Andrew, you date Ginny, they are the same person. I'm hoping that you'd be willing to still see me." He shifted, but his eyes were the exact same as Ginny stared at her. "All of me." Ginny finished.

Dani felt her skin blush and her heart felt like it was ready for a battle. "I don't know," she started to say and then stopped. Dani stood up and tried to ignore the hurt look in Ginny's eyes. "I need to go." She was out the door before she remembered she had planned for Andrew to drive her home. She glanced back at the house, half afraid that Ginny was watching her, before Dani started to walk down the street. It was a few miles to the mansion, but Dani didn't feel like calling anyone just yet. There would be questions, and she couldn't answer anything yet.

CHAPTER 16

Ginny stared at the calendar in front of her desk and sighed as yet another day without hearing from Dani went by. Her movements were sluggish as she pulled out the checkbooks and started to pay the bills. She could hear her employees putting the new shipment out and felt disconnected from it.

This time was supposed to be different, Ginny thought with some despair. If a mutant that wasn't homophobic couldn't accept her who would? The few times Ginny hadn't been dumped she'd found herself having to leave because a lover thought of her as a fun sex toy, not a person. Just once it would be nice to actually be loved and accepted.

This is what the doctor warned her mother of, Ginny thought, while hating herself for it. People that had a clear gender had it easier. Would having someone that loved her have made up for not really being able to feel sex? Would her mutant power have just tossed her back into the problem even if her mother had gotten her that surgery? Why does she have to deny who she really is to find love?

Was Ginny ever going to be happy and in love? Ginny took a shuddering breath and moved to close her office door, not wanting witnesses to her pain.

CHAPTER 17

Dani sighed as she stared out at the kids playing basketball. Her spot on the bench was partly hidden by the trees. She watched as her students played Scott's. It was a PE class, a regular one.

"Dani?" A soft voice asked and Dani looked up to see Shan standing beside her, waiting. Dani moved a little to the side and Shan sat. "What's wrong? Did you and Andrew break up?" Shan asked and her voice was sympathetic. Dani's jaw clenched as she thought about him. She still hadn't told Shan anything, needing time to try and figure this out.

Dani wasn't gay, and didn't think she could accept this. She'd fallen for a man, and it seemed like false advertising. Part of her was angry at Andrew, but another part, the part that wouldn't have told him about her mutation until the third date, understood. "I," Dani's eyebrows drew together as she tried to think of what to say, "don't think things will work out with Andrew."

"Why? He was such a sweet guy. If I weren't gay and dating…" Shan asked and Dani flinched a little. He was a sweet guy, one of the nicest she'd met. Shan didn't realize the gay thing wouldn't have been an issue, or would it have? Dani stared at the basketball court as she wondered if Shan would have been able to overlook the gender issue for Ginny. It made her consider who Andrew could really date. The list was rather small, anyone straight or gay of either gender might have issues like Dani did. Perhaps bisexuals might be interested.

"Oh, I believe I know the answer to that one." A cold and unwelcome voice spoke and Dani turned to glare at Emma as Emma leaned against the tree and smirked at her. "For all Dani's talk of being open minded and accepting, she couldn't think outside the box, even for someone she really liked." Emma stared into Dani's eyes, "That's it, isn't it Dani?"

"You're just amused as hell, aren't you Emma." Dani said coldly and did her best to dismiss Emma from her mind. "This conversation doesn't involve you, so how about you take off."

"Sure." Emma moved forward, away from the tree. "I need to drive a few students to the comic book store anyhow. Nice talking with you." Emma's blue eyes were amused and Dani felt a familiar desire to hit her. Dani watched the blonde walk away until Shan cleared her throat in an attempt to get Dani's attention.

"What's going on?" Shan asked and Dani's back slumped forward a little as she sighed in response.

"I went over to his house to return his car and we had a talk." Dani's jaw clenched at the memory as she tried to figure out how to say this. "Andrew's an intersexual."

"A what?" Shan sounded confused and Dani looked up, a little surprised. She'd just assumed that Shan would know what that was, she knew so much else.

"Intersexual." Dani said while looking at Shan instead of looking down. "A third gender, in between. His or her," Dani's eyebrows drew together as she struggled with pronouns that weren't it. Andrew hated being called it. "mutation lets Andrew appear to be either gender. He IS Ginny the comic book store owner I thought was his sister."

"Oh," Shan looked a little stunned. "Even for around here that's a new one."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Dani felt miserable. "I hate that Emma's right, but I'm not as accepting as I thought. Andrew is really nice, even as Ginny I thought she was nice, but this is just too much. I had trouble with the bisexuality, and I worked past it, but this is too much."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 18

Ginny was flipping through the new Birds of Prey comic when she heard the front door bell. Turning she saw a few familiar customers and smiled as she put the comic down and went back to her spot behind the register. She was alone during her employee's lunch break, but it was normally a slow time. The bell rang again as the kids were looking over the comics and Ginny looked up to see Emma Frost standing in her doorway staring back at her.

Fifteen minutes later Ginny's help came back from lunch and Ginny stood awkwardly in the middle of her store trying to decide what to do about the fact that the blonde corporate queen was standing in the middle of her store and clearly had little interest in the comic books. Emma Frost was here for a reason, and Ginny might want to take this away from her place of work.

"Coffee?" Ginny said quietly as she moved to stand beside Emma.

"That would be lovely dear." Emma didn't even seem surprised, she just started for the front door with Ginny tagging along and nervous about what was happening. She didn't think Dani liked Emma, but this was the first person from that place she'd seen since Dani left her house.

"What is it you wanted?" Ginny forced herself to ask as they started down the sidewalk.

"I heard things with you and Dani didn't go well after your little revelation." Emma spoke and confirmed Ginny's impression that she wasn't going to be hearing from Dani again. Ginny's shoulders drooped as she forced herself to let go of the lingering hope. "Amazing how even people who claim to be liberal minded stumble over anything out of the ordinary." Emma continued to talk in a business like tone. "It really is a shame. Aside from your fluid gender identity," Emma spoke more slowly, "You were probably the best man she'd ever found."

"Yeah, well it isn't like this is something new." Ginny's jaw clenched, not wanting to cry she looked down the street toward their destination, a small restaurant on the corner. Ginny had been avoiding Luna's place lately, it just hurt to be there and hear Luna wondering where Andrew went. Andrew didn't go anywhere anymore. Ginny had given up jogging for a while. "You'd think telling people you were a mutant would end more relationships, but no. It's a perfectly human condition I have, and telling people about that is what ruins everything." Ginny couldn't believe she was talking about this with a woman she barely knew.

"Not everyone is as worldly as I am." Emma spoke. "The idea of another gender doesn't threaten me." Emma moved toward the restaurant door. "After you." Emma held the door opened and Ginny stared at the blonde a moment, wondering why Emma had hunted her down now.

CHAPTER 19

Emma ordered wine in the middle of the day. Ginny watched as Emma also ordered a salad for lunch and resigned herself to a full break instead of a coffee break. "I'll have one of those too." Ginny told the waitress before she could walk away.

"My students told me about your comic database." Emma spoke casually and Ginny took a sip of the water they'd been given as they waited for their other drinks. "It made me interested in your businesses. I've done a little research and I found that you've got a good eye for placing your businesses. One comic store near the school, the other close to mutant town, and a gay bookstore near boys town."

"I do my research." Ginny said, feeling a little lost at talking business. "I look at the population, the competing businesses, and I pick locations that work."

"Not to mention you build customer loyalty with useful gadgets like that database. You think outside the box, probably a result of your," Emma glanced down at Ginny's body a second and Ginny tensed, "unique biology. It works for you."

"Not everything about me is about my plumbing." Ginny's voice was a little chillier. Emma smiled just a little at that before taking a sip of her own water.

"No, you are right, but you can't tell me that it doesn't give you a unique perspective of the world; an understanding of people on the fringes of society wanting to see others like them? You can't tell me it didn't inspire your database, or your choice of businesses to run. You have a business degree from a very good school, not the best, but very good. You could have done anything with it; you could have worked for me or another large business. You chose to go into comics and books for the sexual minorities." When Emma stopped talking all Ginny could do was rethink her own motivations. Slowly she nodded as she saw what Emma had without even knowing her. "You also donate money to further educate doctors on intersexuality, to prevent the type of mutilation that others of your kind have suffered." Emma's research was very thorough. Ginny felt exposed at how easy it seemed for Emma to find this out. "So do I." Emma leaned forward with a smirk and Ginny stared at the woman. "No, I'm not like you, but I believe the third gender has a right to exist just as mutants do."

Ginny stared at the woman. It was rare to find anyone who even knew what the word intersexual was until recently, and Emma Frost not only knew but helped? "I never saw your name in the newsletters." Ginny's eyebrows drew together, wondering if the blonde would lie.

"I donate anonymously. Once the word gets out that I'll support causes I'd be buried under requests, so I send donations to the Intersex Society of North America, any gay rights groups facing a particular battle, and mutant rights groups quietly, I also donate to the legal defense fund for mutants. I do what I can." Emma's smile was pleased with herself and Ginny did her best to not let her jaw drop at how little the media appeared to know about Emma Frost, because Ginny had read a lot about the businesswoman and this was all news to her.

"You're very liberal for a rich person." Ginny finally spoke, a tiny hint of teasing in her voice.

"Well if there is more to you than your 'plumbing', then there is more to me than my money." Emma responded with a raised eyebrow.

The drinks and food came at the same time, salads not needing much preparation. Ginny waited quietly for the waitress to leave before staring into Emma's eyes. "Yes, I think there might be." She smiled just a little and looked down at her salad, feeling a little better than she had before the blonde had dropped by.

CHAPTER 20

Dani sat on the floor in front of the couch with a bottle in her hand, staring at it. "So, I guess things with Luna are going well?" She asked, just to change the subject away from the strangeness of Andrew/Ginny. It hadn't really been talked about yet, since shortly after the PE class Dani had had to teach, but she wasn't ready to start just yet.

"Yeah, things are going pretty good so far. We had that talk, you know the one, and she's fine with mutants." Shan took a drink from her own bottle. "That was the big hurdle and we made it, so I'm thinking I might invite her over here for dinner some night."

They talked for a good three hours, and still Dani felt like she wasn't feeling any clearer. She felt guilty about not being able to look past the fact that Andrew was part woman, but still couldn't even imagine touching or kissing him now.

He'd been a good kisser, Dani thought with a sigh as she left Shan's rooms.

"I'm telling you, Ms. Frost was on a date." A student's voice traveled down the hall. "And it was with a woman. I saw them."

"You're a liar, take it back." An angry voice spoke and Dani started toward the darkened classroom before this got bad. Still the idea that Emma was dating was an odd one.

"She went into the comic book store with us, picked up Ginny like it was the easiest thing in the world and they went out. I saw them eating and smiling and touching, and Ms. Frost is a dyke." His voice rose on the last word, but Dani stopped walking a moment in shock.

"We don't talk like that here." Another voice spoke.

"Ms. Pryde!" Two boys sounded shocked and Dani shook herself out of her own thoughts and finished walking to the doorway.

"We don't use words like that here, and what the teachers do on their off time is not the students concern." Kitty stood there, parting in room and partly through the wall. "I could hear you through the walls. You two have detention tomorrow." Kitty finished stepping into the room.

"I'll take them for that." Dani added, her arms crossing in front of her as she glared at the boys.

"Good, I didn't have the time. I WAS," Kitty glared at the boys, "Working on the new network. The Professor wants it up by next week and I don't have a lot of spare time for gossiping students."

"No problem." Dani stared at the boys. "Go to your dorms and you can meet me at my office after dinner tomorrow." They left rather quickly, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Who gets to tell Emma why we nailed them." Kitty smirked and started to chuckle. Dani just looked away, to stare at the art in the art room.

"I don't want to." She spoke quietly.

"It isn't like it would bother her. They could have been saying she was seen having a barnyard orgy and she'd just raise and eyebrow and smirk." Kitty sighed, disappointment in her voice at Emma's unflappability. "Well, I'll report this if you want." Kitty turned away and moved toward the wall. "Nice seeing you, but I've got a killer deadline."

"Yeah, fine. See ya later." Dani moved for the door as Kitty went through the wall.

CHAPTER 21

Andrew leaned against the side of his house as he stretched out his legs. The weekend was just wrong without a jog in the morning. He didn't want to run into anyone that might ask about Dani, but he couldn't change his whole life because he'd been disappointed.

The cool air felt good as he started to jog toward town. He'd go get a coffee and newspaper and come back.

A strange feeling hit him as he jogged along the main road and finally he had to look back. A woman in sweats and a blonde ponytail was jogging up to him and it took him a moment to recognize her. "Hey." He smiled and moved to the side to let her catch up and jog beside him.

"Surprised to see you out Andrew. I heard you've been missing." Emma said as she got closer. "Want some company?"

"What you said made sense." He moved to jog beside her and could tell Emma Frost was a jogger, she paced herself well, but she was a little fast, he lengthened his stride to normal when he realized he didn't have to slow down for her. "Thank you."

"No problem dear." Emma's eyes turned to look at him and she smiled. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to do me a favor. I have a function I have to go to and I need an escort. It wouldn't hurt for you to meet a few of the investors I work with." Andrew felt a little awkward about that. "I don't really care what form you come in, I'll be envied either way."

"What?" Andrew slowed down and stopped, Emma just jogged in place in front of him.

"I'm not caught up on what people think, so whichever form you think you can dress up the best is the one you should use. It's a black tie event."

"So you'd take me as Ginny if I told you I didn't have any suits?" He asked, not quite believing that Emma Frost would let people, her investors even, think she was dating a woman.

"Do you have any nice dresses?" Emma asked and smirked at her.

"Yeah," Andrew's voice was softer. "I have three."

"Well then, do you want to come?" Emma asked. "It would be good experience for you to see how I go about getting backers for new projects."

"Okay." He started to jog with her again, but both went slower. "What are you doing?"

"I'm asking a very attractive person out on a date." Emma smiled and started to run a little faster. "You need to keep up with me a little better if you aren't catching that."

CHAPTER 22

Dani smiled just a little when she saw how Shan seemed to spring forward to get the door when Luna knocked. Luna was about to be initiated into the mansion, Dani sighed as she remembered how many of all of their dates didn't take this part well. No Xmen had been spared the pain of a potential lover that couldn't deal with their mutation, or their dangerous life.

Hopefully Luna wasn't another one to add to that endless list, Shan rarely dated. It would be nice for it to work for her.

"Come in, come in." Luna was saying and Dani just leaned against the stair railing to wait.

"Hey Luna." Dani spoke and they started to talk, but the words stopped too suddenly. Dani turned to look up the stairs Luna stared up at to see Emma walking down wearing a evening gown.

"Oh, I see you've brought a guest home." Emma stared at Luna a little and then turned to Dani with something too knowing in her eyes, and too confusing for Dani to interpret. "Well have fun, but I have a date with a young comic book store owner." Emma's eyes stayed on Dani and her eyebrow rose, before the blonde pulled her attention away from Dani and to the stairs she was walking down.

"Ginny?" Luna's voice sounded impressed. "Whoa, you do good work. Ginny almost never dates." Dani did her best to not flinch at that information. It made her feel less proud of herself, but then maybe Ginny did all her dating as Andrew.

"I know," Emma turned to look at Luna, but her eyes glanced past the woman toward Dani for a moment, "it is a shame that such a lovely person finds it so hard to date, but I'm working on her." Dani's jaw clenched a little as Emma continued. "It must have something to do with the lack of quality in her previous dates, it made her cautious." Emma's eyes were cold as she stared into Dani's. "Well, I best be going. She's waiting for me."

Shan shared a look with Dani as the front door closed again, Emma on the other side. Dani just shook her head and put a fake smile on her lips to talk with Luna, while her mind wondered what Emma was up to. Did she really plan to take Ginny out as Ginny?

Emma probably was bisexual, Dani decided while she pretended to listen to the conversation around her. Still, it wasn't a good feeling to know Emma was out there, probably pumping Andrew for all sorts of details about Dani now. Thankfully she hadn't done very much with him before he'd told her.

He'd been too honorable to not tell her until after they'd gone too far, Dani thought with a small pang of pain. He wasn't a guy, but if he'd been one he would have been one of the best Dani had ever dated.

Why couldn't he have been a guy? Dani's mind complained, but then she had to try and push these thoughts away, because Shan was giving her a strange concerned look.

CHAPTER 23

Ginny stared across the room to see Emma talking with a small group of people while Ginny had taken a bathroom break. Ginny just stopped and looked at the blonde for a moment, noticing how very feminine she was, her every move grace. No, no one would have ever called Emma Frost a tom boy, or a lot of the other names people gave to girls that didn't act the way the world wanted them too. Ginny sighed as she glanced at the men in the room, the ones looking at Emma. A man coming to this event with Emma would have been looked down on for being merely eye candy to Emma's brains in these talks, because men were supposed to outshine women in conversations in business weren't they? These old men would have thought so, but with Ginny being a woman it was assumed she was just eye candy, even though she'd come here with a woman.

Ginny took a glass of wine from a waiter walking past and took a sip as she studied the woman she'd come here with. Emma had quickly given Ginny the chance to talk business with them all, but Ginny had caught the surprised looks in a few eyes that she could. If Ginny had come here as Andrew her opinions might have been given more attention, and that frustrated her. It was what made Ginny follow the leading women in business in the newspapers, this double standard she was aware of.

Emma's eyes caught Ginny's for a moment and Ginny smiled and moved to rejoin her date.

Later that evening, after the business talks and the networking, Ginny was finally alone with Emma again, in the elevator. "It was educational." She thought of the way Emma used a combination of charm and wit to get what she'd wanted.

"Good." Emma smiled. "Would you like a late dinner? We could see about educating you a little more." The teasing tone took on a sexual undercurrent.

"Oh, I've got a Master's degree in that subject." Ginny blushed just a little and smiled with her playful boasting.

"How interesting, I have a Ph.D." Emma chuckled.

"Mine's a double Master's degree." Ginny said with a semi straight face as she stared up at the number readout on their elevator.

"They really were intent on asking you about your education up there weren't they? Comparing schools as if it were measuring well," Emma glanced down indicating the area between Ginny's legs. Ginny smiled just a little at the comment, the men were acting like it was a competition.

"I'm fully female in this form." Ginny spoke very quietly. "I have nothing to measure right now." Emma smiled a little wickedly.

"And Andrew, does he have anything worth measuring."

"I'm just fine." Ginny blushed and looked away. It was a little rude to ask something like that, but the fact that Emma was curious and not in a creepy what's the freak like way, was a little intriguing. "A little more than fine." Ginny's face reddened as she added that, her ego not able to let this go. "Actually using the word little is a bit…"

Emma started to laugh at her and Ginny's blush deepened.

"Yeah, well," Ginny struggled for a way out of this conversation. She couldn't believe she let herself get lead into it to begin with. It wasn't date conversation, at least not dates that didn't involve backseats and food delivered in a bag. The door started to open and Emma moved to walk past her to step into the lobby.

"And I could still teach you a few things." Emma said softly as she walked past Ginny out into the lobby, the scent of Emma's perfume caressing Ginny.

Ginny was starting to feel like she really had jumped into the deep side of the pool with this woman, and she wasn't sure she could swim well enough for the currents Emma was sending out. Was Emma actually serious or was this a fun flirtation with someone completely different for Emma, Ginny wondered as she followed the blonde for a few steps before catching up.

CHAPTER 24

Dani was just walking into the mall when she saw a familiar person. Her body froze for just a moment as she considered turning around and walking back out before she was spotted, but when Andrew turned toward the door she just started to walk toward him. It would seem far too cowardly to let him see her leave, and really he deserved better than that.

Dani just didn't want to have this conversation. It wasn't one she was proud of, she disappointed herself really, but it had to be done.

And maybe she could find out what was going on with Emma and Andrew while she was at it.

"Hey," Dani's voice was softer as she spoke to him. Andrew's smile looked a little like a grimace. "I'm sorry I didn't call." Dani said, some regret in her voice as she moved to look around, seeing that while the mall was busy no one was paying attention to them. "I had no idea what to say. I still don't."

Andrew's jaw clenched a little. "No problem." He told her, but Dani felt even lower at that lie. She could see she'd hurt him.

"I am sorry." Dani said, moving a little closer to him. Her eyes tried to catch his, but Andrew wasn't looking back, he glanced around the mall instead. "I'm not as," Dani had no idea what the word was.

"Accepting, caring, sensitive?" Someone else started listing words and Dani turned to see Emma walking up to them, tossing out words casually. "intelligent? Open minded? Tell me when I hit the right word my dear, although I think they all apply."

"Emma." Andrew sounded tired. "Dani, it was nice seeing you again." He said and Dani watched the pain in his eyes, "but I need to do some shopping."

"I think you'll look very fine in a tuxedo Andrew." Emma said, while moving forward to rest her hand on Andrew's arm as they started to walk away.

Dani watched them walk away and sighed, glad that it was over, but still it felt wrong. She turned to the left where Andrew and Emma had gone right, determined to do her shopping far from those two.

She felt like she should have warned Andrew about Emma. Emma's interest in him seemed strange, but then maybe Emma had been with every other type of lover and it only left someone like Andrew as a new horizon for the blonde.

Dani did her best to push thoughts of Andrew out of her mind. She had a date. She didn't know the man very well, she'd met him at the grocery store, but after the mess with Andrew Dani decided the best way to deal with it was to get right back on the horse. Now she just wanted a little something new to wear on her night out with Lance.

CHAPTER 25

Andrew looked at his reflection in the mirror and worked to straighten his tie. Emma had wanted a night out, a dinner and play, and had invited Andrew along. This time he decided to go as Andrew, but needed the clothes for the night. He looked at the way the suit fit him and knew that Emma had probably saved him from a bad purchase, offering to help shop. He'd never had clothes that fit this well, for either form.

Emma was coming to pick him up, and it felt a little odd. Andrew had hesitantly offered to do the driving for tonight, thinking that the woman would want him to, since he looked like the male tonight, but Emma just said she'd rather pick him up. He was glad, because going to the same place to pick up a different date was just a little odd. He didn't want to draw that kind of attention to the way Dani had dumped him, it would start talk and while he thought Dani was honorable and would not say things he'd rather others didn't know, he couldn't tell for sure if she was. He'd thought she'd at least deal with him in an upfront manner after he told her, but she avoided him. Andrew clearly hadn't been a very good judge of character.

He'd hoped.

He glanced out the window then the car lights hit it and smiled just a little. Emma may be a bit wilder than Andrew, but she was so accepting. It was what he wanted, someone to not even blink at his mutation or gender. Emma never blinked.

That blonde woman was certainly keeping him on his toes, and he was finding he liked that. Andrew moved to pick up a flower he'd purchased earlier and moved for the front door. The lady may be picking him up, so he couldn't really bring it to her door, but she deserved a flower.

It was so freeing to not have to think about giving her the talk, because she already knew. He didn't have to spend their second date wondering at what date he should tell her, he didn't have to try and determine if she was worth the risk. She already knew, and she was asking him out. She'd asked twice.

If tonight went well, Andrew would ask for that third date and make it very clear he did consider it a date. He'd treat her very well, and he'd let her pick his form. She seemed bisexual, but he wasn't sure if she had a preference in his forms.

When he reached her car, Emma got out of it and gently took the flower. She said while smelling the flower he'd bought her. "Thank you," Emma spoke softly and leaned forward, kissing him softly. Andrew's eyes closed and after she pulled away it took him a moment to reopen them, finding her smiling a little wickedly at him. "Just so you know, you can go for that goodnight kiss today. I won't make you wonder." Emma moved to get into the car, and Andrew took just a moment in his shock, before closing her car door for her, careful to not catch her dress in the door.

He did his best to wipe the goofy grin off of his face before he got into the car himself, so she couldn't see it.

CHAPTER 26

Dani had started this conversation by reading out loud the headline on a magazine they'd seen in a convenience store. It read, "Mutants of Genosha are Angered by the United States Lack of Humanitarian Aid." And she was very familiar with the topic, but she didn't say more.

Lance said enough. Dani's fist clenched at her side as he said more than enough about mutants wanting handouts, how the government had enough real humans that needed aid, and the list of comments went on. This was going to be her last date with Lance. At least she hadn't told him about herself yet, he didn't sound like he would have dated her if he'd known.

"You know, I'm not really feeling very well." Dani spoke, interrupting him and making an expression of slight pain. Her hand went up to her temple to rub it as if she was getting a serious headache. "I think I need to go home."

"What?" He looked at her again, with some concern. "Are you sure? The movie starts in a half hour."

"No, I don't feel up to it." Dani glanced at the street. "I just need to go home, take a few pills and sit in a dark room."

"Oh, well I could take you back." He smiled just a little. "I'd finally get to see where you live." Oh, that was a very bad idea, since it's common knowledge that people living there were mutants, Dani thought and curse herself for having Shan just drop her off in town to meet up with Lance. She needed a ride home, but she wasn't letting him take her.

"No, no that's okay. You can go to the movie. I can catch a ride home with a friend." Dani said, noticing the comic books store down the street. Andrew or Ginny as she went by at work, would let her use the phone at least, and let her wait for Shan in the shop. It would be awkward, but a lot less awkward than telling Lance why she didn't want him to take her home.

It took a lot of talking to finally get rid of Lance, and Dani could tell he knew he wasn't going to be dating her again. He didn't know why, but he knew it wasn't going to happen. That saved her having to come out and say it.

She walked slower as she got closer to the lights of the comic shop, and pulled her coat closed a little tighter as she peeked in, to see Ginny sitting behind the register staring down at some papers. Dani looked into the shop and saw no customers. When she got to the door she checked the hours and noticed the store was actually closed. It had been for a while. Dani had really lucked out that Ginny was still there.

It took a lot of nerve to knock on that door and watch Ginny look up from her work. The recognition was too surprised and Dani gave a weak smile as she waited for Ginny to walk around the counter and to the door.

"Hey," Dani smiled again, more in a please forgive me way than just a friendly one, feeling like her shoulders were trying to come up and protect her head, so she forced them back down. "I was hoping I could borrow the phone. I need to call a ride."

Ginny stepped to the side, still holding the door, so Dani stepped into the store. "Car get a flat again?" Ginny asked as she locked the front door again. It took Dani a moment to remember Andrew helping her with that, because even though she knew Ginny and Andrew were the same person it was still a little hard to accept.

"No, Shan dropped me off and my date was cancelled." Dani glanced around, seeing a phone near the cash register.

"Oh," Ginny stood looking at her. "Well, the phone is over here." Ginny started moving, but she slowed down and turned back to Dani. "Or if you can wait for ten minutes I could finish my deposit and drive you. I have my car today. It's grocery day."

"Oh, um, thanks." Dani took the offer, knowing it would take anyone at the mansion another twenty minutes at least to get to her. It might also be a good idea to talk. "My date didn't like mutants." She spoke softly, explaining her situation. "I figured there was no point finishing the evening."

"Did he hurt you?" Ginny's voice was a little tighter and Dani looked into protective eyes. Ginny was just as much a knight in shiny armor as Andrew, or well, Dani shook her head as she realized she was trying to think of Andrew/Ginny and two people again.

"No," Dani sighed, "he doesn't know why I cut the night short. I just brought up the topic of mutants to see how he'd act and he showed a few spots I didn't like."

"Yeah, that's always," Ginny's voice grew more awkward and quiet, "hard. I'll just finish the deposit." Ginny took a few steps to the counter and Dani didn't say anything else, feeling a painfully awkward cloud over both of them. It had been Dani that had the ugly spots with Andrew. Dani turned and started to slowly walk along the tables of comics for something to do, and to avoid the topic that was almost out in the open.

Dani lightly flipped through comics until she heard Ginny packing up. "I need to run by the bank on the way. Wednesdays are my busiest days and the deposit needs to go in."

"No problem." Dani put her comic down and watched Ginny pulling on a coat. "You know I'm sorry right?" She spoke softly. "I'm just not," Dani's words trailed off. She still didn't have the words.

"It's okay. I'm used to it." Ginny grabbed the deposit. "I just, it sucks that the world it like this, but I'm used to it." Dani felt like she was shrinking, her self esteem taking a huge hit with Ginny's pain. "But hey, I wouldn't have met Emma if we hadn't dated. I should thank you for that."

Dani didn't really know how to respond to that comment.

"She really doesn't care. She likes me just the way I am." Ginny unlocked the front door and held it open for Dani.

"You are a great person, I never thought you weren't." Dani sighed. There had been nights she'd stared at the ceiling, wishing that she wasn't so upset by Andrew's difference, because he had been pretty great. "I'm straight." Dani said and sighed, standing by the store front as Ginny locked the door.

"Yeah, well, I don't know what to say there." Ginny turned and started for the car, which was parked across the street. "Because you could have been straight with me, but I know it doesn't work that way." Dani watched as Ginny unlocked the passenger side first and held it opened without even seeming to notice the gentlemanly move Ginny was making for Dani. "I'm sorry your date didn't work out." Ginny said before closing the car door with Dani inside.

When Ginny got into the car, the topic of discussion was changed suddenly to movies, work, and banking hours when Ginny had to drop her deposit into the drop box. It stayed off the sensitive topic until Ginny was driving up to the gates to the mansion.

"I want to be able to pick Emma up for dates in either form I have. I just didn't want to embarrass you by doing it, because people might realize Emma isn't dating two different people. They might realize that you've dated me."

"I'm not embarrassed." Dani spoke softly, finally letting go of it. "I just regret that it couldn't work out, but I'm not embarrassed." Dani leaned forward and kissed Ginny's cheek softly before pulling back. She'd fix what she broke, Dani thought, still hating that it was Emma that was dating someone Dani had, but she couldn't deny that Emma was a better match. "You don't have to stay away because of me." Dani opened the door and stepped out.

"Okay."

"Thank you Ginny," Dani's voice got softer as she stared into familiar eyes, "Andrew." Dani closed the door and started to walk up the steps, feeling a little better about her self than she had in a while.

The End

A/N: Intersexuality is a real word, with real people, dealing with very real issues. In my fiction I'll often deal with real life issues in a fictional way, but I just want to say that the myth breaking of the hermaphrodite and the research I did into the intersexual opened up a whole new world to me. I am in no way an expert, I read a few articles, but I would hope that anyone that is interested in helping or learning more would start by visiting the website for the Intersex Society of North America.

Do we as a society really need to force people into the two main categories of male or female so desperately that we'd mutilate children? These surgeries aren't being done for any medical reason, just to make people fit into the boxes we've created ourselves on gender, and the child isn't getting to choose. I would rather live in a world where gender wasn't taken quite so seriously, it's hurting too many people. I wonder if the intersexuals are not just another victim of homophobia.


End file.
